The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism will be well represented at this year’s News and Documentary Emmy Awards, with six alumni and several lecturers nominated for more than a dozen awards in various categories.
Tommy Nguyen (‘05), is up for three awards for his work as a videojournalist and producer on NBC Dateline’s A Bronx Tale – Outstanding Video Journalism, Best Report in a News Magazine, and Outstanding Feature in a News Magazine. A Bronx Tale tells the story of a man who proved his innocence after nearly two decades in prison for murder.
While completing his master’s at the J-School, Nguyen also wrote, produced and edited Boom Town, Vietnam – a 2005 film series that won a student Emmy. He credits his time at the J-School with allowing him to transition from print journalism to production: “I don’t think I could have broken into long-form television without the help of Bob Calo, Joan Bieder and Jon Else, and the resources of the J-school,” Nguyen said. “I remember sitting in on ‘Intro to Television’ at the last minute – it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.”
Nguyen’s classmate Jonathan Richard Jones (‘05) is up for two awards – alongside J-School lecturer T. Christian Miller – for Firestone and the Warlord, a collaboration between ProPublica and FRONTLINE. The story is a groundbreaking investigation into the role of the American corporation Firestone in Liberia’s brutal civil war. Jones and Miller are nominated both for Outstanding Research and Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long-Form.
Jason Spingarn-Koff (‘01) has been nominated in the New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle, Culture category for his work as executive producer on Notes on Blindness, a New York Times Op-Doc film series following one man’s social and emotional experience of going blind. Spingarn-Koff also took home an Emmy in last year’s awards.
Daffodil Altan (‘04) is also up for New Approaches award in the Current News Category for her work as a reporter on the CIR project, The Box: Teens in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Jails, Prisons and Juvenile Halls.
Bret Sigler (‘03) has been nominated for the Outstanding Editing award for his editing work Go or No Go: The Challenger Legacy, a New York Times Retro Report revisiting the 1986 Challenger tragedy. And Sweta Vohra (‘10) is up for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine for her work as producer on Ferguson: City Under Siege on Al Jazeera America’s weekly investigative program Fault Lines.
The list of Emmy nominees also includes a number of lecturers and former lecturers at the J-School, including Josh Williams, Shan Carter, Kevin Quealy, and Sharon Tiller.
“It’s brings a thrilling sense of pride when students and faculty receive awards for good work,” said Joan Bieder, Associate Dean and Teaching Professor at the J-School. “But I can’t say it’s always a surprise. We know the quality of our students by the time they leave here – we expect them all to produce first rate work – and honestly they rarely disappoint.”
The awards will be presented to winners on September 28, 2015, at a ceremony at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in New York City.
The full list of nominees can be found here.